Vanishing American, a hardcore conservative par excellence, has a great post on the Octomom, Nadya Suleman, which I’ll excerpt below:
I think she has a point that the ‘new America’ is in some very sad ways epitomized by Nadya Suleman. Suleman would be a rarity in the pre-1965 America in many ways. First, she is the product of a marriage between an Iraqi (or a ‘Palestinian Iraqi,’ according to some) and an American woman. Secondly, she is an only child, reflecting another ‘new American’ tradition, that of the small family.
Again, her single motherhood would have kept her from the public limelight back in the old America. Nowadays, permissive Americans would call that practice ‘stigmatizing’, but the fact was nobody celebrated single motherhood. If an unmarried woman gave birth, it was a hush-hush thing. No baby showers given, no announcements in the newspaper. It was thought to be more considerate of the mother and the mother’s family not to trumpet such a thing, but to keep it quiet. And the news media would not have created a media frenzy over a single mother giving birth to multiples.
I doubt that any ethical or respectable doctor of the past would have even considered giving fertility treatments to a single woman, and of course IVF was not in existence then.
This story is an illustration, too, of how technical and medical advances are not necessarily a good thing if they are not under the control of ethical and responsible human beings. An amoral or immoral people with advanced technology will not use it wisely or well.
‘Octomom’ appears to be an example of the narcissism that is such a plague on the ‘new America.’ The idea that the decision to give birth to a flock of children without a father, and without a means of steady support, and without a real plan of being able to care for them, is a thoroughly selfish and short-sighted idea, something only a narcissist would consider. It appears she subscribes to the libertine idea, so popular among many young Americans that ‘I have a right to do whatever I want; it’s my life and my decision, and no one has a right to judge me.’ There is no thought whatsoever for the fact that no man is an island; our ‘personal’ and individual decisions often have serious consequences for those around us: our families, neighbors, and society at large, let alone our children and future generations. Only overgrown, selfish children believe that their ‘personal’ decisions and choices are nobody else’s business. But much of today’s America fiercely defends the belief in their sacred right to behave as they please, free of any ‘judging’ by other people.
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